top of page

PEOPLE AND COMMUNITIES

ManagingMobility_Roads_Dheli_1272_edited

Having been a region of unbroken settlement, Delhi contains imprints of many communities which have settled, departed, mutated or insulated over the centuries. As a result of these processes, Delhi's people and communities today form a dynamic and diverse milieu. The city's ability to embrace and celebrate its plurality is one of its greatest strengths but its socio-economic-religio-political fault lines also tend to surface time and again. The layered demography of the city comprises of different religious communities, 'natives' and migrants, white and blue collared professionals, politicians and diplomats, artists and writers, students and jobbers, and many more. Modern, cosmopolitan lifestyles with a focus on high-end amenities, international schools, and luxury housing jostle with disparities of rural pockets, urban poor and upwardly mobiles. Discover on this page the ethnic composition of Delhi, the demography disturbing events in its history, the mutual relationship of its communities and the safety nets of place-making and home-making that are wrought by people to live in and live with Delhi.

Contents

  1. Ahmad, S., & Choi, M. J. (2011). The context of uncontrolled urban settlements in Delhi. Asien, 118(January), 75-90.

  2. Banerjee, S., & Basu, S. (2015). The city as nation: Delhi as the Indian nation in Bengali bhadralok travelogues 1866–1910. In Cities in South Asia (pp. 141-158). Routledge.

  3. Baviskar, A. (2021). Street food and the art of survival: migrants and places in Delhi, India. Food, Culture & Society, 24(1), 142-155.

  4. Bhan, G. (2009). “This is no longer the city I once knew”. Evictions, the urban poor and the right to the city in millennial Delhi. Environment and urbanization, 21(1), 127-142.

  5. Bhan, G. (2014). The impoverishment of poverty: reflections on urban citizenship and inequality in contemporary Delhi. Environment and Urbanization, 26(2), 547-560.

  6. Bornstein, E. (2020). Disquieting gifts: humanitarianism in New Delhi. Stanford University Press.

  7. Butcher, M. (2009). Re-writing Delhi: Cultural resistance and cosmopolitan texts. In Dissent and cultural resistance in Asia's cities (pp. 182-198). Routledge.

  8. Chaturvedi, B. (Ed.). (2010). Finding Delhi: Loss and renewal in the megacity. Penguin Books India.

  9. Dabral, S., & Malik, S. L. (2004). Demographic Study of Gujjars of Delhi: I. Population Structure and Socio-cultural Profile. Journal of Human Ecology, 16(1), 17-24.

  10. Dattatreyan, E. G. (2015). Aesthetic citizenship; popular culture, migrant youth, and the making of'world class' Delhi. University of Pennsylvania.

  11. Demography of Delhi, Economic Survey of Delhi, 2022-23.

  12. Dupont, V. (2000). Spatial and demographic growth of Delhi since 1947 and the main migration flows. Delhi: Urban space and human destinies, 229-39.

  13. Dupont, V. (2016). Secured residential enclaves in the Delhi region: Impact of indigenous and transnational models. City, Culture and Society, 7(4), 227-236.

  14. Field, J., Tiwari, A., & Mookherjee, Y. (2017). Urban refugees in Delhi: identity, entitlements and well-being. International Institute of Environment and Development.

  15. Frazer, W. Delhi Book,  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delhi_Book

  16. Gill, B. (2022). Dead papers: migrant ‘illegality’, city brokers, and the dilemma of exit for unauthorised African migrants in Delhi. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 48(9), 1961-1979.

  17. Goel, I. (2016). Hijra communities of Delhi. Sexualities, 19(5-6), 535-546.

  18. Gupta P and Bhutani S (). Sustaining Linguistic and Cultural Identity: A Study of Modes and Styles Adoptd by Bengali Community in Delhi,

  19. Hay, F. L. (2012). Incapacity, Indebtedness and Illegality: Everyday Experiences of Poverty and Barriers to Better Life and Mobility for a Migrant Community in Delhi, India (Doctoral dissertation, University of East Anglia).

  20. Hull, M. S. (2011). Communities of place, not kind: American Technologies of Neighborhood in postcolonial Delhi. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 53(4), 757-790.

  21. Irshad, Q., & Rashid, T. (2017).  Measuring Social Interaction in Housing Typologies: The Case of Delhi, : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348266370

  22. Kipgen, T., & Panda, B. (2019). Migrants and their social networks: A study of Kuki migrants in Delhi. Sociological Bulletin, 68(3), 342-356.

  23. Le Houérou, F. (2018). The Tibetan Ethnic Enclave in New Delhi a Visual Perspective. Sociology Mind, 8(3), 84639.

  24. Lin, S. G., & Paul, M. C. (1995). Bangladeshi migrants in Delhi: Social insecurity, state power, and captive vote banks. Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars, 27(1), 3-20.

  25. McDuie-Ra, D. (2012). Leaving the militarized frontier: migration and tribal masculinity in Delhi. Men and Masculinities, 15(2), 112-131.

  26. McDuie-Ra, D. (2012). Northeast migrants in Delhi: Race, refuge and retail (p. 225). Amsterdam University Press.

  27. Mehra, A. K. (2005). Urban villages of Delhi. Urbanization and Governance in India. Manohar, New Delhi, 279-310.

  28. Mittai, S. (2017). Expatriate Narratives of the City of Delhi. Smart Moves Journal IJELLH, 18-18.

  29. Mittal S (2017). Post-Independence Delhi Narratives and Civicism in the City, Journal of Arts, Science and Commerce, Vol.– VIII, Issue –2(7), April 2017[17].

  30. Mittal, S. DELHI: A City Without Natives, www.researchersworld.com, Journal of Arts, Science and Commerce,  Vol.– VIII, Issue –3(5), July 2017[63].

  31. Mukherjee, M., & Dutta, C. (2018). Contested urban spaces in Delhi: Experiences of discrimination of women from northeast India. Journal of Social Inclusion Studies, 4(2), 258-280.

  32. Nakatani, T. (2015). Durga Puja and neighbourhood in a displaced persons’ colony in New Delhi. In Cities in South Asia (pp. 175-195). Routledge.

  33. Neetha, N. (2004). Making of female breadwinners: Migration and social networking of women domestics in Delhi. Economic and Political Weekly, 1681-1688.

  34. Project Cybermohalla: https://sarai.net/projects/cybermohalla/

  35. Sharma Aparajita & Konwar, Dipjyoti (2014). Struggles for Spaces: Everday Life of a Woman Street Vendor in Delhi. TDUJTHTSS, 1, 48-52.

  36. Shree, R., & Chaturvedi, S. (2021). Migrants Fighting for Water Rights: Sangam Vihar and Deoli, Delhi. Journal of Migration Affairs, 3(2), 72-89.

  37. Shukla, M. (2023). Dynamics of Changing Rural Demography (A Case Study of Villages in National Capital Region–Delhi). Journal of Social and Political Sciences, 6(1).

  38. Singh, K. S. (1992). People of India (Vol. 1). Anthropological Survey of India.

  39. Singh, N. C. (2019). The Evolution of Delhi Metropolitan Area: A Historical, Demographic and Geographical Perspective. research journal of social sciences, 10(5).

  40. Snell-Rood, C. (2015). No one will let her live: women's struggle for well-being in a Delhi slum. University of California Press.

  41. Soofi, M. A. (2012). Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi's Red Light District. Penguin UK.

  42. Spektor, I. B. Non-Hindi-Speaking Communities of Delhi: Problems of Adaptation in aModern Metropolis. History, Politics, International Relations, 61.

  43. Thapan, M., Singh, A., & Sreekumar, N. (2014). Women's mobility and migration: Muslim women migrants in Jamia Nagar, Delhi. Economic and Political Weekly, 96-104.

  44. Thieme, S. (2006). Social networks and migration: Far West Nepalese labour migrants in Delhi (Vol. 7). LIT Verlag Münster.

  45. Yadav, D. (2020). Daughters of the Brothel: Stories from Delhi's Red-light District. Bigfoot Publications.

  46. Yadav, S. (2008). The Invasion of Delhi. Worldwide Books.

Delhi : People of India Volume XX

K.S. Singh

Spatial and Demographic Growth of Delhi since 1947 and the Main Migration Flows

Veronique Dupont

Secured residential enclaves in the Delhi region

Veronique Dupont

Social networks and migration: Far West Nepalese labour migrants in Delhi

Susan Thieme

Leaving the Militarized Frontier: Migration and Tribal Masculinity in Delhi

Duncan McDuie-Ra

Street food and the art of survival: migrants and places in Delhi, India

Amita Baviskar

Making of Female Breadwinners: Migration and Social Networking of Women Domestics in Delhi

Neetha N

The Context of Uncontrolled Urban Settlements in Delhi

Sohail Ahmad
Mack Joong Choi

DELHI: A CITY WITHOUT NATIVES

Sangeeta Mittal

Demographic Study of Gujjars of Delhi: Population Structure and Socio-cultural
Profile

Shweta Dabral
S.L. Malik

Delhi Book

William Fraser

Expatriate Narratives of the City of Delhi

Sangeeta Mittal

MEASURING SOCIAL INTERACTION IN HOUSING
TYPOLOGIES: THE CASE OF DELHI

QAMAR IRSHAD
TAIYABA RASHID

 

Project
Cybermohalla

https://sarai.net/

DAUGHTERS OF THE BROTHEL: Stories from Delhi's Red Light Districts

Deepak Yadav

THE INVASION OF DELHI

Sanjay Yadav

Northeast Migrants in Delhi
Race, Refuge and Retail

D u n c a n M c D u i e - R a

"This is no longer the city I once knew”. Evictions, the urban poor and the right to the city in millennial Delhi

Gautam Bhan

Communities of Place, Not Kind: American Technologies of Neighborhood in Postcolonial Delhi

MATTHEW S. HULL

Dead papers: migrant ‘illegality’, city brokers,
and the dilemma of exit for unauthorised African migrants in Delhi

Bani Gill

Migrants Fighting for Water Rights: Sangam Vihar and Deoli, Delhi

Ruchi Shree and Shashank Chaturvedi

Hijra Communities of Delhi

Ina Goel

Women’s Mobility and Migration - Muslim Women Migrants in Jamia Nagar, Delhi

Meenakshi Thapan, Anshu Singh, Nidhitha Sreekumar

Durga Puja and Neighbourhood in a Displaced Persons' Colony in New Delhi

Tetsuya Nakatani

Non-Hindi-speaking communities of Delhi:
Problems of adaptation in a modern metropolis

Ilya B. Spektor

Dynamics of Changing Rural Demography (A Case Study of
Villages in National Capital Region –Delhi)

Manoj Shukla

Contested Urban Spaces
in Delhi: Experiences of
Discrimination of Women
from Northeast India

Mala Mukherjee1
Chandrani Dutta

DELHI: A CITY WITHOUT NATIVES

Sangeeta Mittal

 

Struggles for Spaces:
Everday Life of a Woman Street Vendor in Delhi

APARAJITA SHARMA
DIPJYOTI KONWAR

 

Re-writing Delhi
Cultural resistance and
cosmopolitan texts

Melissa Butcher

 

No One Will Let Her Live: Women's Struggle for Well-Being in a Delhi Slum 

Claire Snell-Rood 
Mayank Austen Soofi

Disquieting Gifts Humanitarianism in New Delhi

Erica Bornstein

The impoverishment of poverty: reflections on urban citizenship and inequality in contemporary Delhi

Gautam Bhan

The Evolution of Delhi Metropolitan Area: A Historical, Demographic and
Geographical Perspective

Naveen Chandra Singh

Bangladeshi migrants in Delhi: Social insecurity,
State power, and captive vote banks

Meenakshi Thapan, Anshu Singh, Nidhitha Sreekumar

Migrants and Their
Social Networks: A Study of Kuki Migrants in Delhi

Thanggoulen Kipgen1
Biswambhar Panda

Urban refugees
in Delhi: Identity, entitlements and well-being

Jessica Field, Anubhav Dutt Tiwari, Yamini Mookherjee

URBAN VILLAGES OF DELHI

AJAY K. MEHRA

The City as Nation: Delhi as the Indian Nation in Bengali Bhadralok Travalogues, 1866-1910

Sandeep Bannerjee
Subho Basu

SUSTAINING LINGUISTIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY :
A STUDY OF MODES AND STYLES ADOPTED BY BENGALI COMMUNITY IN DELHI

PRADITA GUPTA
SMITA BHUTANI

Demography of Delhi

Govt. of NCT of Delhi

The Tibetan Ethnic Enclave in New Delhi a Visual Perspective

Fabienne Le Houerou

POST – INDEPENDENCE DELHI NARRATIVES
AND CIVICISM IN THE CITY

Sangeeta Mittal

 

Aesthetic Citizenship: Popular Culture, Migrant Youth, and the Making of 'World Class' Delhi

Ethiraj Gabriel Dattatreyan

Incapacity, Indebtedness and Illegality: Everyday Experiences of Poverty and Barriers to Better Life and Mobility for a Migrant Community in Delhi, India.

Frances Lily Hay

 Finding Delhi: Loss & Renewal In The Megacity

Bharati Chaturvedi (Ed.)

Nobody Can Love You More: Life in Delhi's Red Light District 

Mayank Austen Soofi

 

A major research project sponsored by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR)

Dr. Niraj Kumar Singh
Project Director

Prof. Sangeeta Mittal
Co-Project Director

 divercity22icssr@gmail.com
bottom of page